Please give a brief introduction of yourself.

I hail from tehsil Samundari, Faisalabad. My father is superin-tending engineer, currently posted in Gujranwala. I was born in Faisalabad but I was brought up in Lahore. I attribute my success to my father and mother, especially my mother, who was a source of inspiration for me.
I studied at Beaconhouse School, Garden Town, Lahore, then went to Hasanabdal Cadet College and completed my 'O' level there. For my 'A' level. I joined the Beaconhouse again in Lahore. After that I went to GIK (Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology) and got a degree in electronic engineering in 2007.
I appeared for CSS examinations in 2008 and got third position.

Which subjects did you opt?

I opted for Islamic history and culture, Muslim law and jurispru-dence, sociology and journalism.

You did not choose the subjects from your engineering field, why?

After completing my engineering, I developed great interest in the arts subjects. The advice of Dr. Liaquat Niazi helped me a lot in choosing my subjects for the CSS finally. Another reason was propaganda against Islam. People call Islamic laws as draconian laws. I had scientific background and had no formal religious training regarding Islamic history and Sharia. I wanted to explore for myself the causes of our decline as Muslims. I developed interest in Islamic history; I studied it extensively for three months. Now I can talk fluently on Islam because I have studied it in depth and I strongly believe that Islamic Sharia is panacea for all ills of modern world crises.

What was your style of preparation?

I cannot study for long hours. I heard that people study continuously for 16 hours. I am not that type. I used to study for eight hours; four to five hours in the morning and about three hours in the evening. In a week, I studied four to five days only. However, apart from my hardwork, I am indebted to my teachers – Dr Liaquat Niazi, Prof Anwar Bukhari, Dr Ijaz Butt, Mr Naveed Iqbal and Mr Agha Mohsin. They helped me a lot in the preparation of my CSS exams.

What were your expectations regarding the result?

I never expected such an excellent result. I just hoped that I may find allocation in first three groups. One can never be sure of anything about future. I felt I performed great in exams but I did not expect that I would get third position.

In your opinion, what is the role of CSS academies?

When I started the preparation I visited many academies. Those were like colleges. They asked me to get registration and other things. I had the impression that they would give me notes to study. The overall experience was very depressing. Teachers were inexperienced. Those who recently passed were teaching there. An engineer was teaching public administration. I think one should go for the professionals. The subject you want to study should have the guidance of the specialist of that subject. Thus, I went to the professors who had thorough knowledge of their subjects.

I had the subscription of World Times, Time and Newsweek. I also consulted newspapers. These were my major sources for seeking information on different contemporary issues.World Times gives diverse opinion about national and global trends, especially the international affairs section is very good.

What do you think, one should go to the academies or not?

See, this is my personal view. It's a normal practice that when someone tops, he names one academy and that academy encashes that statement. But in my view, in academies teachers cannot give personal attention to all the students. Unless there is no personal relationship or interaction between student and teacher you cannot guarantee success.

Would you give some suggestions to the aspiring CSS candidates?

First thing is to say your prayers regularly and seek parents' support and prayers.

Secondly, I would like to explain that CSS is more a strategy. One should stress upon writing, develop the power to write elaborately and then leave everything up to Allah Almighty.


People opt for most scoring subjects and if they don't qualify they keep on changing the subjects. Does this benefit them?

Subject selection is the most important factor. You take your time to choose the subjects after a careful assessment. Then stick to that and don't waver. I selected Islamic history and culture, sociology and journalism. People were surprised when I chose these subjects. Actually you should have grip and interest in the subject. If you have interest you can surely score high marks.

Any tips for the interview?

I went to Prof Anwar Bukhari. He developed in me a sheer sense of evaluation. It proved very helpful. I regularly studied World Times, Newsweek, Time and other newspapers to keep me abreast with current trends. Actually the interview is test of your personality, how you carry yourself, how you present your opinion and stick to that and your critical analysis of things. Thus, students must focus on these factors.

You have selected police depart-ment. For what major reason?

I want to do something for the police. For a commonman police station is a scary place, his utmost desire is to keep away from that place. Unfortunately, the image of our police is tarnished. Police should serve instead of arousing fear among the masses. If I am allowed to change something, I will provide relief to the commonman.

Doctors and engineers are joining civil service, leaving their own fields. Why?

Our bureaucracy is still a very powerful institution as bureaucrats are policy-makers. This factor is fascinating. Secondly, secretary health is always a doctor and secretary telecommuni-cation should be an engineer. The other thing is that doctors and engineers have good academic background. So they have every right to go for CSS.

Please give your views about current political situation and the lawyers' movement.

Every crisis offers an opportunity. The past two years' struggle helped us getting rid of dictatorship and finally democracy was installed. I would call it a bloodless revolution. It galvanised the public opinion. It was a great opportunity for the lawyers and the judges. They stood up for the independence of judiciary and the rule of law. Media support was also of vital importance.

Now media should also raise its voice for the welfare of the common man and the deprived people of Balochistan. For the country's pros-perity, Balochistan has to be developed and bring it at par with Punjab and Sindh. This issue should be resolved on a priority basis. The future of country is in democracy. All the parties should work for the elimination of 17th Amendment and prime minister should be made stronger instead of the president if we want parliamentary system in Pakistan.




.................................................. .................................................. .........

He is honest, he is simple, he universal because he is Muhammad Sohaib Ashraf

I read his interview in JWT magazine in 2009 and was so moved by his each word that I started searching him on google but I could not find him on facebook, twitter or any social networking site. I tried that only because I wanted to know his routine as a student.By that meant his other activities than studying like watching games or talk shows on TVS..D.Does he have any official page? I could find only 2 links, one the interview and other is given below:

https://twitter.com/kpkupdates/statu...38406731505665

SOHAIB is very much concerned about the welfare of society, he has been serving honestly as I believe...you can follow him on twitter,here is the link

https://twitter.com/sohaibashraf85